Dust from traffic on dirt roads and from the handling of particulate products can create significant health, environmental and safety problems. At mining facilities, industrial sites and construction sites, operations may be significantly restricted by dust cloud formation. In addition, dust can adversely affect human health and the environment.
Known dust controlling agents include oils, paper making byproducts such as ligno-sulfonate dispersions, and water, optionally containing various salts such as magnesium and calcium chloride, or sodium chloride. U.S. Pat. No. 6,589,442, teaches us a partially saponified mixture of crude tall oil and vegetable oil, emulsified in water, can be used as a dust control agent.
Dust problems can persist even in subfreezing temperatures. It is desirable to utilize cost-effective dust control agents that are green and are derived from renewable sources.
In particulate and/or aggregate handling operations, freezing weather can halt operations. For example, coal can carry a significant amount of moisture. The moisture on the surface of the coal and in the coal, when frozen, causes the chunks of coal to agglomerate into large, unwieldy lumps, creating a handling problem. The coal can also freeze to the walls of hopper cars and railroad cars that are used to transport the coal, which further causes a material handling problem. It would be desirable to identify an economical and highly-effective freeze control agent that is green and derived from renewable sources.
Deicing and anti-icing compositions comprising glycerol-containing by-products of triglyceride processing processes are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,890,451. Deicing and anti-icing compositions comprising short-chain polyols including glycerol and various wetting agents, antioxidants/preservatives, buffers, and/or freeze point depressants are disclosed in US 2005/0087720 A1. In the foregoing references, “deicing” is understood to mean removal of frozen precipitation from a surface after it has already formed. “Anti-icing” refers to application of an anti-icing fluid on to a surface before ice is present in order to lower the freezing point of any precipitation which contacts the surface thereby preventing it from turning into ice.